The land of pamplemousse, breadfruit, D cup frangipani toting beauties, and French food opulence.
This is our front yard as we lie tied stern to the marina wall looking out over the nearby island of Moorea, and watching super strong Polynesian men training for the forthcoming canoe race around the island.
We almost feel guilty as we clink glasses "sante".

The marina is host to large boat and small. Our neighbour sure cut us down to size!

As you walk out of Taina marina in Papeete, or take le bus to town, the first thing you notice is that you can only catch the most occasional glimpse of the lagoon or beach. The rich have fenced it off for themselves.
Their houses fringe the beach and 8 ft walls are a most effective barrier to keep the landless at bay.
It is mostly the local people who use the splendid bus service. The French drive the citrons, renaults etc. But there does appear to be a high level of friendliness from all.
It is sad to know that we are in the southern hemisphere, in the pacific and we have to say we are in France. The colonial rule stretches on and on.
Mururoa is just to the south east.

Where stuttering is not an impediment.
Most of the locations in Tahiti are in Polynesian; a language where every syllable is pronounced.
Try our nearest suburb Faaa, pronounced far,ar,ar.
We rest our case.

Small fleets of these vans set up at well known locations, the most prominent is on the promenade smack bang in the middle of town.
They are open most nights, but the yachties tend to congregate on a saturday.

The Polynesians flock to them.
Music is the go. One night we enjoyed reggae, but on a follow up visit we had to endure the music of the god botherers. The luck of the draw.

It's a tiny world

Lo and behold there are Aussie voices everywhere.
Peter Hardy and Millie, from our own yacht club, Hobsons Bay, hail us at dusk from the dock. They are in Tahiti to sail to the Cook islands on a sustainable holiday on a yacht that collects data on plastic pollution in the ocean. It turns out Yo and Peter taught together at Footscray City for years.
Inside the marina are a couple of people from Geelong who belong to the same yacht club as our friends Bill Ethell and Danny Connor.

LOVE yer front yard! And glad to see you haven't (yet) erected an 8 foot wall to block it off from sight. Not sure about the far,ar,ar - sounds a bit like Captain Peg Leg.

Passage to Tahiti- Arrived after 6 full days

Yo and Dan HellierMay 5, 2011, 9:30 pm, Taina Marina, Papeete, Tahiti

We arrived at 1100 hrs Thurs after a fine but willing sail overnight.
A band of wind down south moved up enough to give us 20 to 25 knots during the night and lakes full of rain - damn.

The anchorages here are very tight. These days mainly mooring buoys all bar one filled with local boats. We ended up going into the Taina marina as we are not prepared to anchor with 2 to 1 chain anywhere.
There are about 20 buoys available on a first come basis, but getting one would be like winning the Melbourne Cup.

The port control speak perfect English and are most helpful.
The actual harbour is simple to enter at night, but I would not be game to tackle the channel down to Maeva beach or the marina at night first time in. There is one particular spot where the coral juts out.

Thanks for the tips! We are noting them down!! Leave some fish for us. Good to see the weather gods have been mostly nice.

May 8, 2011, 9:33 pm | Robert Millard and Claire Thomas

Just by chance picked up your thread by browsing. Brings waves of nostalgia from pretty well exactly 10 years ago; envy of your brilliant communication facilities, and slight guilt that we havn't afforded you the the support through contact that you gave us. Our passage from the Galapagos to the Marquesas took 21.5 days and the notes from the log which I have just looked at are remarkably similar. All of this is now part of a distant former life for us. Best wishes to you both. Don't miss Suvarov. Cheers, Robert and Claire

May 10, 2011, 3:32 am | Janette

you are such lucky buggers - Tahiti, inspiration of Gaugan, his release and, ultimately, his downfall. Fantasised about it for some time but hear it is as expensive as. Let me know if that's right. That tuna catch en route is impressive to say the least. Must have been quite a tussle to get on board.
More about Tahiti please - and pics!

We had a day with a local guide called Wilson Roja, who took us to the bird locations. This tour was organized by Sharksky especially for ourselves and was excellent.
We saw most of the Darwin finches that live on San Christobal, and many endemic species. The land tortoise rehab centre was good for these species.
A highlight was viewing the frigate birds washing in the fresh water volcano lake (El Junco).

We had been under the impression that as the frigate bird finds it so difficult to launch into flight, it does not land in water. Not true. They in fact, come to the fresh water lake to clean the salt from their plumage.
They drop into the water for some seconds, take off and soar to a great height, then go into freefall, violently shaking their wings and feathers as they plummet.

They pull out of their fall as they get nearer to the ground.
At Los Loberia, a beach on the south coast, we saw a surprising number of seabirds.
The Darwin finches are another story. Now they have been identified as tanagers. Every type of finch relates back to a pair of blue black type quits, but they have all adapted differently.
While many all eat the same food in the good years, when everything dries up they have adapted to survive in their own unique way.
The vampire finch has adapted to suck blood from red or blue footed boobies, the wood pecker finch uses a stick as a tool to extract lavae from the trunks of dead trees, yet another has learnt to survive on the lice from the giant land tortoises and iguanas.
Adaptability is the key, and it is the beaks that have primarily adapted in varying ways to suit the conditions of their particular terrain..

Hey Dan and Yo,
Glad to hear you had a great trip, also to hear that you are not affected by the tsunami.
I guess you'll stay put for the next few weeks. Enjoy. Lots of pics please. By the way just cause you're so far away it's no excuse not to be aware of the fact that the Mighty Black Caviar won her tenth race straight. Better than Vain I think Daniel!! And we were there to experience it. Yo, we've got Isaac for the weekend!! Exciting times.

Carol

March 15, 2011, 11:12 am | Stolen Kiss

One tsunami in a life is enough!! Knew you would be ok!!

Today we transit the canal

Yo and Dan HellierFebruary 16, 2011, 7:29 am, Shelterbay marina

After 2 months of jungle walking we farewell Shelterbay.

We cross from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean when, in the next 30 hours, we transit the canal.

Susie and Gene from Peregrine, who we had first met in Darwin, in the second year of circumnavigation, helped us cast off lines as the skies opened for a brief tropical drenching.

We have 2 professional line handlers helping us as well as 2 fellow Australian yachties, Lainie and Terry from Virgo's Child. We pick up our canal advisor at 1630 hours local time.
If you're interested in viewing the transit just google Panama Canal webcam

Wow, Jacana looks too booful for words! Shelterbay looks lovely too. Have a good canal trip - your previous experience will ensure that it is a good one. Can't wait for the next episode of yer travelogue!